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Koedoe vol.53 no.2 Pretoria ene. 2011
Taking stock after a decade: does the 'thresholds of potential concern' concept need a socio-ecological revamp?
Harry Biggs; Sam Ferreira; Stefanie Freitag-Ronaldson; Rina Grant-Biggs
Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Skukuza, South Africa
The concept of thresholds of potential concern (TPCs) as implemented for the last decade in strategic adaptive management in South African National Parks (SANParks), has proved workable in practice in a number of instances, but in others appears beset by conceptual and practical limitations or barriers. Three common challenges relate to (1) situations where there is uncertainty about whether and where real thresholds exist, (2) whether and how preferences and other social constructs, as opposed to what were seen as objective biophysical variables only, can be used for TPCs and (3) whether it is admissible to adjust TPCs to allow for variations in societal behaviour, in particular rate of management response. All three challenges arise in the face of TPC objectivity implied by the original definition, and in the light of the original view that TPCs be set some distance prior to a presumed ecological threshold.
This paper suggests that the three challenges can be partly or largely dealt with by the use of a wider socio-ecological view, rather than seeing TPCs in isolation or as being only biophysical. Also, while detection of abrupt changes is helpful, it makes little practical difference if some TPCs happen to describe linear processes. The very decision to intervene can induce an abrupt change. Once a wider socio-ecological approach is employed, it becomes necessary for the user to specify the particular usage envisaged for the TPC, for instance, whether it is considered a preference and whether that preference is believed in any way to be related to an ecological threshold. In all cases, it is recommended that some form of explicit representation of the socio-ecological view is constructed - we suggest a cause-and-effect diagram (and give an example generated through a thought experiment) which describes presumed relationships in the subsystem of interest. This provides a broader systemic context and a shared understanding, and has implications for considering scenarios and management alternatives. For practical reasons, from the several states and processes in such a subsystem, only a few links can be chosen on which to base particular TPCs. If we have understood the subsystem well enough, these few links, at each of which a TPC is developed, will act as diagnostic points at which we can monitor the performance of the subsystem adequately. A broadened definition of a TPC is presented, supporting this approach.
CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS: The concept of thresholds (initially ecological thresholds) has started influencing conservation management practice, a commonly-used formulation for management decision-making being the threshold of potential concern (TPC). Practical TPC usage can often be improved by moving away from its initially pure ecological outlook, rather framing understanding through an interlinked socio-ecological view.
Strategic adaptive management as an operating philosophy (see Roux & Foxcroft 2011) has attracted wide interest in South Africa. It spread from its original usage on river issues in and around the Kruger National Park (Biggs & Rogers 2003) to a wide range of other biophysical themes associated with national parks elsewhere in the country and more generally, to natural resource management issues such as integrated water resources management (Freitag et al. in press). One central construct which has attracted interest is that of thresholds of potential concern (TPCs; Biggs & Rogers 2003). The current application of TPCs equates to 'decision thresholds' sensu Martin et al. (2009), but ones which specifically presage predicted ecosystem thresholds. These authors also define such 'ecological thresholds', as well as another category, 'utility thresholds', which are value-based ones, giving high leverage if acted on. The Strategic Adaptive Management approach in which TPCs are embedded assumes an often-changing context in which resource management is taking place. The approach thus strives to take a modest position, and to inculcate assertive learning-by-doing in what is seen as a complex world (sensu Levin 1999) in which surprises occur. The original concept of TPCs (Rogers & Biggs 1999) hinged on upper and lower limits of a variable of interest in the ecosystem, being set with the idea of allowing management some time to respond, before the expected ecosystem threshold was crossed. This therefore carries the challenge of predicting or anticipating an ecological outcome via knowing, or at least being able to hypothesise, an approximate ecological threshold (Martin et al. 2009). Nevertheless, even if a state change is predicted, the approach does not always link the TPC to the hypothesised mechanisms of change explicitly (see Ferreira et al. 2011) and may thus be less useful to management than if the cause of change is known.
TPCs were originally seen as flowing from high-level vision and objectives, forming 'low-level goals ... provid[ing] managers on the ground with targets of ecosystem condition ... scientifically rigorous, spatially and temporally bounded... act[ing] as amber lights to warn managers of possible unacceptable environmental change'; in practice being 'upper and lower levels of change in selected biotic and abiotic variables which act as indicators of the acceptability of ecosystem condition' (Rogers & Biggs 1999). It should be noted that this definition obviously does not preclude ongoing management, although imminent or actual TPC exceedance will always lead to consideration of an important additional management response. This usage has, apart from a few attempts to recommend it in other contexts (e.g. when wilderness qualities were perceived to be dropping below an acceptable level [South African National Parks (SANParks) internal communication, Freek Venter] and for tourism standards and resource use guidelines, in a few postgraduate studies), been limited to biophysical issues, and mostly these have been viewed one at a time. This has led to some progress, some frustration and some learning (Van Wilgen & Biggs in press; Gaylard & Ferreira 2011). The progress in certain theme areas, such as river management and fire management, has been held up as an example for possible use in other theme areas, according to Biggs et al. (2011). However, these authors point out that there is too little deeper reflection generally associated with the use of TPCs, and that when such reflection does take place (as it did in the fire and river examples they describe), it enables a fuller and more productive adaptive cycle to occur.
Even though TPCs play this catalytic role in enabling these adaptive loops to be closed, there are several conceptual obstacles now evident after more than a decade of use of TPCs in the institutionalised way described by Biggs and Rogers (2003). Ferreira et al. (2011) and Gaylard and Ferreira (2011) address several issues around emergent TPC usage, such as the fact that they are less successful if the underlying hypothesised mechanisms are not explicitly articulated. For instance, it hardly helps to have a TPC for unacceptably reduced river flow if one cannot understand what drivers (e.g. increased abstraction) are leading to this, or what worrying consequences (e.g. increased sedimentation) are likely. Such explicit articulation is now undertaken in joint science-management discussions, which slows down the process, but results in the building of a more strongly shared rationality and thus carries wider organisational support than before. The joint hypothesising of such mechanisms, within the context of a socio-ecological system, also helps to link the objectives with the actual monitoring decisions more effectively, especially since it is not possible to monitor all the links and there is seldom one single 'correct' variable, or group of variables, to monitor in a complex system (Stirzaker et al. 2010). Also, many parks are, because of their need for rehabilitation, lying largely outside the desired state, sensu Roux and Foxcroft (2011). A wider formulation of the systemic context in which the TPCs are embedded (i.e. a richer and broader picture of the way the system appears to function) assists in helping understand the manner and pathway through which restoration might best be applied. Designing TPCs to focus on processes and/or on rate changes, and not only on outcomes, would be make them even more useful, but this is very challenging, partly because of lack of detailed understanding of these processes.
In this paper, we attempt to respond to several recurring conceptual issues that appear to act as dampers to the use of TPCs:
There is often uncertainty as to whether a real threshold even exists, and if so, where exactly it lies. This makes TPC developers and users hesitant, given the certainty they may originally have expected TPCs to deliver. Hesitation also occurs when they suspect that a process is linear, or for any other reason, is believed not to have a clear threshold.
There is a feeling that even if a functional biophysical threshold exists (say a point after which so many large trees, ostensibly acting as nutrient pumps, disappear from a landscape, that its nutrient status quickly changes), it is perceived to be easier in some cases to set TPCs as human preferences (e.g. there are fairly clear preferences for large trees in open savannas [Herbert Prins, unpublished data]). Similarly, scientists and managers in SANParks, although often suggesting that the threshold concept would be useful for pure economic or sociological (say tourist perceptional) phenomena, have in practice invariably not gone ahead and developed and implemented these in the way that has happened with biophysical ones. We speculate that this hesitation is partly because of perceived vagueness of these compared to the perception of 'hard biophysical' TPCs, even though preferences (such as for large trees in savannas) may often be expressed rather precisely. This hesitation to develop social TPCs may be related to the popular, yet flawed, perception that ecology is largely an exact science and/or to the uncertainty and associated lags resulting from the biophysical interacting with the social domain (such as delays in decision making or implementation). Shortage of capacity to formulate these social and economic TPCs (as opposed to the more capacitated biophysical science division) has also been cited as a contributing reason for their absence in SANParks management plans.
There is uncertainty, if levels of TPCs are adjusted to give for example, slower responding management systems enough chance to still react in time, whether this constitutes a breach of their objectivity.
In an attempt to find a basis from which to deal with the above obstacles, we will use the term 'limit' to refer to what is generally considered an unambiguous change, such as cessation of surface flow in a perennial river. We sometimes use 'boundary' (rather than threshold, since this paper deals with a potential widened meaning for TPCs) to refer to the transition at which a generally clearly acknowledged change of state occurs, such as from an open grassland to a thicket, or from a state-operated model to a concessioned model (for example, a tourism facility in a park). We recognise what we will call 'preferences' along a gradient of continuous change, often not associated with a boundary or biophysical limit. We distinguish 'preference' from, or at least recognise that it grades into, 'acceptability' the latter implying something closer to non-negotiable, a feature some users originally may have implicitly attributed to TPCs, even though clear processes of TPC revision (Rogers & Biggs 1999) were described because it was anticipated they would be required often.
We address these barriers explicitly and thus ask three questions, (1) how can we overcome the damper which arises because of uncertainty about whether a threshold exists and where it lies, (2) can TPCs be used for preferences and (3) can TPCs be adjusted to take embedded human behaviours, especially in the rate of institutional responses, into account? We then propose a TPC revamp that easily accommodates several biological and cultural concerns and perceptions inherent in socio-economic-ecological systems that are an intrinsic part of conservationists' mandate as expected by society.
Dealing with the barriers
Taking decisions and action in spite of uncertainty about a threshold or a limit
Managers cannot afford to be paralysed by uncertainties. In fact, adaptive management makes much of moving forward by conceptualising and probing the system intelligently and thus 'reframing the problem in a way that gives a place to stand and take action while we learn more about how the system is really operating' (Stirzaker et al. 2010). Rather than following the cue arising from the very common cautiousness of scientists (who often recommend waiting until more evidence is available before making a decision), generally adaptive management encourages us to move forward by making a decision, though this should be balanced with some slowness to enable appropriate stability and reflection (Cilliers 2006). This decision-making imperative should include the possibility of an explicit, well-considered, 'no-action-now' management decision being taken. Importantly, this differs from the conventional 'wait-until-more-evidence-is-available' approach, in that it and all other options and their anticipated consequences have been concurrently evaluated and the 'no-action-now' decision taken as the best option. Since such a decision is then as valid as any well-reasoned decision that drives immediate action, decision-makers should not feel they have not taken a decision simply because there has been no immediate resultant physical action on the ground.
Current biophysical TPCs can be seen as lying on a continuum of 'empirically well or fairly well understood' through an intermediate position 'informed by expert opinion' right down to 'intelligent early guesswork' (see also Gaylard & Ferreira 2011). This spectrum would likely also apply when TPCs are more widely used for social and economic variables. When a large proportion of TPCs are associated with intermediate and higher levels of inherent uncertainty, our observation is that this tends to disturb and even paralyse potential adaptive management practitioners. This caution is understandable, but also needs to be overcome if progress is to be made in adaptive management. This is particularly so because of the trade-off between encouraging and allowing systems to vary a sufficient amount within the 'tent of acceptability', that is, the envelope representing the desired state, to promote resilience, and the need to yet respond in time, so as not to land up on an undesired trajectory outside this envelope (see Figure 1). The level of risk tolerance as opposed to risk aversion, (the so-called 'risk appetite'), therefore plays an important role in how conservationists constrain that envelope of acceptable variability. The level at which they decide on their attitude to risk in different situations is thus pivotal. For instance, practitioners who regularly invoke the Precautionary Principle (Cooney 2004) but in a traditional sense, run the risk of reacting too soon and attempting to constrain the ecosystem by not allowing it to vary and develop resilience. Much of the critique of earlier management in the Kruger Park (in Du Toit et al. 2003) rests on the idea that managers had tried to hold the system relatively constant in time and space because of a belief that allowing great fluctuations was inappropriate. Applied with differing sets of values in isolation, the Precautionary Principle can also provide fuel for seemingly well justified but opposing management recommendations, as documented in an Australian example (http://www.acat.act.gov.au/decisions.php?action=decision&id=29). However, modern application of the Precautionary Principle (Cooney 2004) suggests acknowledgement of full societal context including societal values guiding objectives, which can include a belief in the value of allowing 'healthy' amounts of variation in the ecosystem and concurrent use of adaptive management feedbacks. The application of TPCs is consistent with this newer approach, which we suggest needs to be even more cognisant of development of tools such as TPCs. TPCs together define the outline of a desired state (Figure 1), derived through an adaptive planning process (see Roux & Foxcroft 2011) which defines a vision and hierarchy of objectives which explicitly capture and express societal values and expectations. In essence, thus, ecological TPCs are determined by human values and expectations, but guided by known or presumed biophysical limits. Using TPCs, the full set of adaptive management steps are designed to then help take the most appropriate decision for implementation in this milieu of uncertainty, and to learn and change effectively as one progresses.
We have thus argued that adaptive management methodology places a premium on making decisions at various levels of uncertainty, usually then eliciting probing actions which help develop understanding of complex systems, but that there is also sometimes place for a well-reasoned 'no-action-now' decision. Modern interpretations of the Precautionary Principle support this complex systems view, and depending on context, can address greater levels of risk than previously. Strategic adaptive management effectively incorporates value considerations in its fundamental planning phase, recognising that these, together with understanding of biophysical limits, underlie most TPCs in current use. Arguments presented below on incorporation of social preferences constitute important further reasons why decision-makers should not be paralysed by uncertainty concerning actual limits.
Can thresholds of potential concern be used to describe, or can they include, societal preferences?
We could argue that this is a non-question, given that the biophysical TPCs, although influenced by absolute limits, are also a form of societal preference. However, the question is so often asked in this form (and the expression to date of TPCs, has been in terms of biophysical variables) that we feel that it has been useful to retain it as the obvious entry point for those asking it. A better formulation for future use might be 'can social or biophysical descriptors qualify equally validly for societal preferences as embodied in TPCs?' Strategic adaptive management is rooted in human values as a basis for deciding on the desired state (Roux & Foxcroft 2011) which is described in joint social and ecological terms (Walker & Salt 2006). One component is a 'healthy' biophysical system, where 'healthy' is deemed in accordance with these values. A commonly depicted intersection of social (including economic) and biophysical facets (Figure 2) suggests that the desired state can most productively be seen as the socially and biophysically desirable and sustainable overlapping area. Again, 'biophysically sustainable' refers to absolute physical limits, but also to considerations of human acceptability and even preference. So again, in spite of the fact that both circles involve human choice, we find the figure useful as an entry point, the target of the biophysical one being expressed in biophysical terms. The overlap in Figure 2 requires the context, if not the definition, of a TPC to be expanded beyond only addressing the biophysical subsystem. It can still be useful to have definitions for TPCs in pure biophysical or social subsystems, but these must then be viewed as parts of the joint system.
A common debate in SANParks is about the introduction of the 'big 5' (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard) into smaller, usually recently proclaimed, parks. This is usually justified on the basis of both restoring natural biota and processes, and presumed attractiveness to tourists. Statements which can be quoted as supporting this are often available in the vision and objectives of the specific park's management plan, which will have been drawn up, in line with the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (Act no. 57 of 2003), in a stakeholder-centred way. Contention that has arisen around such introductions (for instance, damage to adjacent livestock from escaped predators) is in several cases not well resolved, and flags the need for more holistic and nuanced guidance in the higher-level processes (such as derivation or prioritisation of the park mission and objectives) which provide guidance for such decisions. Without going into how this is being addressed by SANParks, and without specifying any particular park, we create here a plausible but fairly generic 'thought experiment' in which one set of possible outcomes of such decisions, as they might currently be made, could play out when viewed as an interacting socio-ecological system. The purpose of doing this is to illustrate that social and ecological TPCs interact, and are usefully viewed as a joint system, actually necessitating the incorporation of social TPCs. We use the kind of cause-effect diagram that might be produced by a park science-management forum at SANParks, without adhering to the full rigour and strict conventions of a formal influence diagram.
The particular cause-effect diagram in Figure 3 has three vertical threads, depicting outcomes for tourism, ecological condition and neighbour relations. The heart of the diagrammatic narrative shows a positive or reinforcing feedback loop between increasing possibilities for elephant viewing in the park, and tourism-derived income. In this particular story, only those negative (dampening) feedbacks which later on influence tourism income in some way (resultant problems with trail camp accommodation, unacceptable tourist-elephant conflict and ultimately, loss of viewing opportunities due to a mass decline of elephant following a severe drought) manage to start slowing down the major reinforcing loop which initially governs park decision-making in this hypothetical narrative. Potential feedbacks about other concerns covered in SANParks' mandate (habitat condition, access to tourism by lower/middle income locals, and costs borne by neighbouring communities) are, in this particular scenario, all insufficiently strong to reverse that central trend. Obviously we could continue by exploring what might happen if those currently 'dead-end' options became stronger (producing their own effective feedbacks), and develop by similar thought experimentation further illustrative narratives with their own cause-effect diagrams. In fact, the elephant ecological impact TPC, which is treated, for reasons of clarity of the overall story, as a single item in the figure, unpacks in practice into a whole diagram of its own, currently in use in various forms in SANParks. The point is that whatever diagrams are deemed necessary by a science-management forum (the normal vehicle to discuss such issues in the SANParks case) should be drawn.
Figure 3 should be adequate to illustrate why such an approach is useful, if not essential. It provides the backdrop of systemic understanding for the justification and positioning of TPCs. That systemic understanding, represented by the diagram as a group mental model, is thus jointly agreed on, at least by the participants, bearing in mind that they also bring with them wider stakeholder impressions from frequent interactions with these groups, some of these interactions being mandatory for park plans. Figure 3 also hypothetically lists the most likely TPCs which might be used, and illustrates why both social and biophysical TPCs are essential if a holistic understanding is to be obtained. It also lists a host of other potential TPCs which could be used in a world with limitless capacity. There is an art to selecting a few particular ones, from all the possible ones which could be thought of, enough to give a fair chance of an overall understanding of the system, but not so many that the associated development, monitoring and interpretation activities become overwhelming. We need to remember that a diagram of the kind shown in Figure 3 would constitute only one of several, and possibly in a large or complex park, up to perhaps 15 cases. Each diagram will have associated TPCs. Even given that several of the same TPCs occur in different diagrams (in other words, in different theme areas), the overall capacity to develop TPCs, monitor, manage and reflect, remains finite, and a parsimonious but effective set needs to be chosen.
While there is some evidence that ecosystem changes might often (but certainly not always) take the form of thresholds (Schröder et al. 2005), these are invariably connected to social changes (Resilience Alliance & Santa Fe Institute 2004) which are underlaid by values, the results of these value shifts often leading to fairly abrupt change (as in a ban on smoking). We thus need to become equally comfortable with the fact that many of these social (including economic) changes can also have a threshold nature - such as changes in fashion, and financial collapses (Scheffer 2009). However, the issue of linearity compared to non-linearity has probably caused unnecessary confusion in the implementation of TPCs to date. In any system with feedbacks causing movement across a boundary, even if some of the changes are linear, there could be a state change of interest to natural resource or park managers. If there is no state change, or if the change is linear, predictable, and especially if it is reversible, then this (unusual) set of circumstances will be relatively straightforward for management to handle. Our interest therefore focuses on the more frequently occurring (often non-linear) tenacious state changes in which one threshold (or more often, a series of interlinked thresholds in a coupled sequence as in Figure 3) can change. This is loosely called a regime shift (Scheffer 2009): a relatively sudden jump from one dynamic regime to another, in which the interactions between the controlling variables (and therefore the explanatory diagram) usually alter. Certain of these regimes are desirable as judged by operative values, and others undesirable. When in a desirable one, management aims to maintain its 'healthy' state by allowing variation within it, but not allowing an undesirable trajectory to take the system outside of the limits.
One important sign of the system moving outside of the desired state is a consistent directionality until the next state is reached (Ferreira et al. 2011). Said another way, allowing this desired variation (inside the envelope, Figure 1) usually implies that net overall movement hovers around zero (i.e. in the 'ball-in-the-basin' metaphor, Walker & Salt 2006). Conversely, management initiatives to move the system from an undesired state to get back within it, also implies directionality to achieve this (Figure 1). This was often referred to as 'back inside' or 'back to natural' in conservation circles and is formally restoration (Society for Ecological Restoration 2004), although recently there is increasing recognition of the need to sometimes create acceptable 'novel ecosystems' (http://herenthereneverywhere.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/novel-ecosystems/).
Human needs and values are often central underlying drivers of these changes, with the biophysical changes, such as global temperature increase, often being inadvertent outcomes which then lead to many of the changes. The adaptive management framework (see Roux & Foxcroft 2011) should thus clarify how exactly TPCs might work as both 'retainers' of a particular state and 'targets' to which to return (Freitag et al. in press).
Whether a boundary crossing is threshold or non-threshold in underlying nature, the TPCs should be reflective of the desired state and its inherent values. Although SANParks has made good progress (see Roux & Foxcroft 2011) in making this connection, through use of adaptive planning, it is still grappling with this when underlying objectives requiring to be balanced, are only partly compatible, as in the example in Figure 3. In fact, the situation in the generic example in Figure 3 (and alternative scenarios which might arise if the 'dead-ends' become more influential) will in the opinion of the authors be highly influenced by determination of effective synergies and trade-offs at the level of organisational and societal values. Until this happens effectively, and even afterwards, we consider such cause-effect diagrams indispensible in the formulation of TPCs and in the management of such a situation.
Often an emergent slow variable, say poorer education over many years, can lead to gradually poorer service delivery. In natural resource management, this may manifest as a sudden shortfall in a crisis period, for example, during a cyclone or a drought. An important challenge resides in setting thresholds which link the focused sub-system to the slower variables operating on the overall socio-ecological system. This is important because slow variables may be difficult or impossible to measure, yet may irrevocably change the system. Slow variables may also be biophysical, sedimentation of rivers being a good example in rivers flowing through the Kruger National Park. Sedimentation is relatively difficult to measure, and its consequences could easily have taken Kruger Park management by surprise were it not for an intensive research programme which highlighted it by drawing systemic diagrams of the type we now use and recommend in this paper, and were it not for the linkage made between sedimentation and some faster-acting, more easily measured variables. In Figure 3, investigation may show that profitability TPCs could be used as an early warning system to detect if, and perhaps at what scales, slower variables (slow changes in ecological condition which lead, over decades, to a sudden major change) are changing in an undesirable direction.
The well-known history of elephant culling in Kruger National Park (Whyte et al. 1998; Van Aarde et al. 1999) serves as a further example of the interactions between biophysical aspects and societal preferences. The history details, from the date of its inception until it was stopped, what was perceived as a mechanistic effort at capping populations. This was to avoid passing a perceived biophysical threshold of ecological degradation (Van Wyk & Fairall 1969), derived through use of the Precautionary Principle within the rangeland ecological paradigms in use at that time. This capping of populations had other unexpected biophysical effects, such as higher calving rates during the years of culling (Van Aarde et al. 2008). The overall system had in fact changed in a step fashion (sensu Scheffer 2009) as a consequence of the intervention, even if protagonists of culling felt that such a change was acceptable given what they were attempting to avoid. In broader perspective, the culling campaign led to an increase in social unacceptability over time, a de facto threshold, and to suspension of culling (Whyte et al. 1998) with consequent further elephant population growth (Young et al. 2009). The socio-ecological system had passed a boundary, having moved from a state of 'culling by technocrats, acceptable to society' to a state of 'no longer necessarily acceptable, suspend culling and rethink overall issue'. In retrospect, at park-level, the elephant impasse resulted in decision paralysis while parks authorities were required to collect more information and conclusive proof of habitat destruction. While this caused significant frustration among managers, the resultant 'slowness' (Cilliers 2006) has enabled a rethink of ecological paradigms (Gaylard & Ferreira 2011). Nevertheless, now, 16 years after culling stopped in 1994, the originally predicted ecological thresholds have not been passed, except for concern around the TPC concerning reduction of large trees that has been tabled (SANParks 2009) and may lead to management aimed at reducing effects, possibly even culling (now legally allowable again; DEAT 2008), in at least some parts of the Kruger National Park.
We have stated that while a broader view is essential for contextualisation, it is not feasible to track the full suite of variables and links, and some focus on a key part is needed in the interests of practical expediency. Gaylard and Ferreira's (2011) unpacking of ecological concerns extended into the social realm, coupled with scenario evaluation and comparative risk assessment (see box in Gaylard & Ferreira 2011), may actually help overcome parts of this challenge. An example is how conservationists may wish to manage elephant effects that range from ecological to societal (Scholes & Mennell 2008). Unpacking these effects could help converge onto a common mechanism and driver of how elephants can cause ecological change, induce human conflict, enhance tourism experience and generate revenue (Gaylard & Ferreira 2011) - in their analysis, spatial use by elephants turns out to be central. TPCs as originally formulated, akin to decision thresholds (Martin et al. 2009), will thus reflect modulators of elephant spatial use, while allowing the inclusion of utility-based TPCs (Martin et al. 2009) and will embody a range of ecological, social, economic and financial contexts. Although it is useful to link these to actual ecological thresholds, we have learnt that restricting TPC usage to only this latter class is very limiting and has proved frustrating. Extending their usage to include societal preferences and take into account organisational and human behaviour in the ways described, and unpacking the real meaning of each, better supports how society influences how conservationists should act in their interest.
The narrative in Figure 3, and the potential other narratives that could unfold if the currently 'dead-end arguments' in Figure 3 were to gain sufficient momentum, demonstrate that even innocent-looking social choices can have very real consequences for the desired biophysical state in a conservation agenda. The viewpoint that humans can choose to carry out any of a range of activities on an ecosystem template that is generally in good shape, is correct. However, zooming in slightly, there are different possibilities in the specific mix of ecosystem services available, and these are of explicit management interest. For instance, predictions that the mopani vegetation type will expand under climate change (Rutherford et al. 1999) and perhaps later embrace all except the southernmost corner of Kruger National Park, will almost certainly lead to different tourist outcomes and experiences. We could argue that both mopani and what is left of the other habitats are fundamentally healthy, and similar social activities can be practised on both. But the way human values and park management might intersect with this projected outcome, leads to varying social trajectories (for instance, game-viewing tourism is popular along rivers in the mopani areas, but far less so away from rivers) and potential thought experiments which, like those in Figure 3, will illustrate how coupled and interdependent the subsystems are, and help avoid or navigate such change.
It is clear that much hinges on what is considered acceptable or preferred, or unacceptable and not preferred. This is broadly circumscribed during the adaptive planning process by the desired state (Roux & Foxcroft 2011) which should have more appropriately been called the 'desired set of varying conditions' to reinforce the idea that systems tend to change all the time. What articulated desired states turn out to look like, and what is acceptable, are both fundamentally influenced by a variety of values, some of which are explicit and/or shared between stakeholder groupings (see SANParks [2008] for a set of explicit SANParks conservation values). It is well known that where there is a relatively high degree of sharing of values, societal preferences can more easily be defined and articulated, as for TPCs.
We thus feel that social TPCs should not only be allowed and encouraged, but that they are in fact essential (along with biophysical TPCs) if a full socio-ecological understanding is to be available as a basis for decision-making.
Can thresholds of potential concern be adjusted to take embedded human behaviour, especially differences in the rate of institutional responses, into account?
While remote ecosystems, almost uninfluenced by human events, can demonstrate naturally generated threshold events, almost all natural resource management situations in South Africa have fundamentally important social drivers and social outcomes. In virtually every case, various legislative and management authority mandates may also require contrasting outcomes, and a somewhat different culture and behaviour characterises each such authority. For instance, conservation and animal health legislation in South Africa may not have common outcomes (in the context of elephant management, see Scholes & Mennell 2008). Even small differences in the biophysical situation can often reflect in some way the range of possibilities or outcomes in the social domain and vice versa. Resource management is typified by such partly competing, partly overlapping goals, and as holistic as possible an understanding is required to deal with this. TPCs developed in such a joint situation will need to reflect both cultures, or increasingly, a newly forged joint understanding and behaviour.
TPCs were originally defined as being some time before a 'real threshold' and so the question arises whether it would then be reasonable to set them more conservatively (i.e. to be exceeded even earlier) in a context where management responses might, for whatever reason, take longer. For instance, slower anticipated institutional responses in for example, one country compared to another. A rational empiricist might say this detracts from the objective setting of the TPC, because it takes into account the shortcomings of institutions and people, even though most will agree it is easier to change before, rather than after, a threshold is exceeded. For instance, degraded rivers are very difficult to restore; it is easier to keep a healthy river in a good state, irrespective of the institutional capacity that this requires in one catchment or country compared to another. However, making such an adjustment for capacity would seem to be consistent with, and even in support of, the logic describing the 'buffer' timing that should be considered in refining TPCs, according to Scholes and Kruger (2011).
Towards a broader definition
A re-orientation of the kind recommended in this paper may necessitate a revised definition of a TPC. We suggest 'any practical decision prompt based on a particular level (or upper and lower levels) of a social or biophysical variable which assists managers to avoid (or to transition into) a different state which is considered undesirable (or desirable). TPCs should not be seen in isolation, but as part of dealing with a complex socio-ecological system, and should be informed by biophysical limits in conjunction with human values'.
All three barriers described can be tackled by viewing the system in a wider context. TPCs are not isolated entities. They should relate to the broader subsystems, which often have social and biophysical interactions, in which they are embedded, and reflect the values and objectives comprising the desired state. The wider view is usually represented by a cause-effect diagram akin to the thought experiments presented here, and similar to what Gaylard and Ferreira (2011) use to help enhance TPC implementation. If it does not do so already, this should include the social domain, often manifest as preferences or as net economic effects which can be stated as acceptable thresholds. That will frame TPC usage explicitly in a coupled socio-economic-ecological context, where change in a single driver, or often a set of related cascading thresholds, leads to crossing of one or various overlapping boundaries, and thus to a regime shift (Scheffer 2009).
Until recently, most usage of TPCs has been geared towards a setting at least slightly before perceived ecological thresholds. Practitioners should be as plain as their knowledge allows them to be, about whether any of these are linked to thresholds or boundaries. If so, it seems entirely reasonable that the decision on how far before, might depend on the likely speed of response mechanisms, guided by principles described in Scholes and Kruger (2011) and that clearer management responses are enabled if the mechanisms causing change are explicitly hypothesised (Gaylard & Ferreira 2011). Nevertheless, if it appears that the TPC is purely a preference, this should be stated in the supporting documentation, and where the link between a particular preference and any supposed real biophysical threshold is unclear, this should be noted and commented on, to assist future evolving development of the management system.
Whilst we encourage wider socio-ecological contextualisation, it seems sensible when it comes to monitoring to rather choose key focus areas and track just those segments of the wider understanding. If objectives or drivers change, or if the variables followed are not adequate for the task, it may be necessary to expand or adjust these, probably within the framing of an adjusted cause-effect diagram.
Biophysical and social sciences are indispensable in helping understand the whole picture required for TPC formulation, and practitioners cannot be expected to understand the management meaning clearly, without some understanding of the pervasive inter-linkages between these. Such joint thinking should be encouraged right down to the operationally detailed components of park management plans. The commonality of joint mind-maps of socio-economic-ecological systems thus stretches across hierarchies of governance locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. The setting of thresholds is a means of checking to see if the originally jointly defined desired state (with its various objectives and goals) is maintained. This may include a variety of both qualitative (generally at entry-level and then followed by increasingly building the rigour in the understanding) and quantitative TPCs (see also Gaylard & Ferreira 2011). TPCs can only be practical if constructed, evaluated, adjusted and reacted upon within the context of human preference and behaviour.
If the changes suggested in this paper could be combined with refinements through approaches that capture a generality of TPC definitions as being process-orientated and recognising variability as a key outcome (Ferreira et al. 2011), and approaches that unpack key management concerns into cause-and-effect diagrams (Gaylard & Ferreira 2011), then we may be entering the second and, it is hoped, more fruitful generation of TPC usage, and not restricted to only a moderate number of 'special' cases which appear to work well. A good opportunity therefore exists to write a unified set of guidelines collating these changes in approach and practical use.
We thank the many scientific collaborators, managers and rangers within SANParks for fruitful discussions over the years. These discussions have prompted ideas about conceptual and practical problems concerning TPCs and have led to the writing of this paper. Thanks also to Oonsie Biggs for insightful discussions and comments on an earlier draft of this paper, as well as to two anonymous reviewers whose comments and inputs have led to a more focused and tightened manuscript.
Biggs, H.C., Breen, C., Slotow, R., Freitag-Ronaldson, S. & Hockings, M., 2011, 'How assessment and reflection relate to more effective learning in adaptive management', Koedoe 53(2), Art. #1001, 13 pages. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v53i2.1001 [ Links ]
Biggs, H.C. & Rogers, K.M., 2003, 'An adaptive system to link science, monitoring and management in practice', in J.T. du Toit, K.H. Rogers & H.C. Biggs (eds.), The Kruger experience: Ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity, pp. 59-80, Island Press, Washington. [ Links ]
Cilliers, F.P., 2006, 'On the importance of a certain slowness. Stability, memory and hysteresis in complex systems', Emergence: Complexity and Organisation 8(3), 106-113. [ Links ]
Cooney, R., 2004, The Precautionary Principle in Biodiversity Conservation and Natural Resource Management: An issues paper for policy-makers, researchers and practitioners IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. [ Links ]
DEAT, 2008, National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act 10 of 2004): National Norms and Standards for the management of elephants in South Africa, Department of Environment Affairs & Tourism, Pretoria, South Africa. [ Links ]
Du Toit, J.T., Rogers, K.H. & Biggs, H.C. (eds.), 2003, The Kruger experience: Ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity, Island Press, Washington. [ Links ]
Ferreira, S.M., Deacon, A., Sithole, H., Bezuidenhout, H., Daemane, M. & Herbst, M., 2011, 'From numbers to ecosystems and biodiversity - a mechanism approach to monitoring', Koedoe 53(2), Art. 998, 12 pages. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v53i2.998 [ Links ]
Freitag, S., Biggs, H. & Breen, C.M., (in press), 'Fifteen years of the spread and maturation of adaptive management in South African National Parks: organisational learning in systems perspective', in W. Freimund, S. McCool & C.M. Breen (eds.), Engaging Complexity in Protected Area Management: Challenging Occam's Razor, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. [ Links ]
Gaylard, A. & Ferreira, S.M., 2011, 'Modification and maturation of sanpark's adaptive planning process - making critical linkages between conservation objectives and actions', Koedoe 53(2), Art. 1005, 8 pages. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v53i2.1005 [ Links ]
Levin, S., 1999, Fragile dominion: complexity and the commons, Helix Books, Boston. [ Links ]
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Rogers, K. & Biggs, H.C., 1999, 'Integrating indicators, endpoints and value systems in strategic management of the Kruger National Park', Freshwater Biology 41, 439-451. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2427.1999.00441.x [ Links ]
Roux, D. & Foxcroft, L.C., 2011, 'The development and application of Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM) within South African National Parks', koedoe 53(2), Art. 1049, 5 pages. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v53i2. 1049 [ Links ]
Rutherford, M.C., Midgley, G.F., Bond, W.J., Powrie, L.W., Robert, R. & Allsopp, J., 1999, South African Country Study of Climate Change. Plant Biodiversity: Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment, pp. 1-59, National Botanical Institute Climate Change Group, Cape Town. [ Links ]
SANParks, 2008, Policy context: SANParks' mandate and values, chapter 2 of 'A framework for developing and implementing management plans for South African National Parks' viewed 15 April 2009, from http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/conservation/scientific/key_issues/plans/adaptive/pdfs/chapter_02.pdf [ Links ]
SANParks, 2009, Minutes of the Conservation Services Management Committee meeting, South African National Parks, Kruger National Park Archives, Skukuza on 02 April, 2009 [ Links ]
Scheffer, M., 2009, Critical Transitions in Nature and Society, Princeton University Press, Princeton. [ Links ]
Scholes, R.J. & Kruger, J.M., 2011, 'A framework for deriving and triggering thresholds for management intervention in uncertain, varying and time-lagged systems', Koedoe 53(2), Art. #987, 8 pages. doi:10.4102/koedoe.v53i2.987 [ Links ]
Scholes, R.J. & Mennell, K.G. (eds.), 2008, Elephant management: A scientific assessment for South Africa, Wits University Press, Johannesburg, South Africa. [ Links ]
Schröder, A., Persson, L. & De Roos, A.M., 2005, 'Direct experimental evidence for alternative stable states: a review', Oikos 110, 3-19. doi:10.1111/j.0030- 1299.2005.13962.x [ Links ]
Society for Ecological Restoration International Science and Policy Working Group, 2004, The SER International Primer on Ecological restoration. Version 2. [ Links ]
Stirzaker, R., Biggs, H., Roux, D. & Cilliers, P., 2010, 'Requisite simplicities to help negotiate complex problems', Ambio 39, 600-607. doi:10.1007/s13280-010- 0075-7, PMid:21141779 [ Links ]
Walker, B. & Salt, D., 2006, Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World, Island Press, Covelo. [ Links ]
Van Aarde, R.J., Ferreira, S.M., Jackson, T., Page, B., De Beer, Y., Gough, K., et al., 2008, 'Elephant population biology and ecology', in R.J. Scholes & K.G. Mennell (eds.), Elephant management: A scientific assessment for South Africa, pp. 84-145, Wits University Press, Johannesburg, South Africa. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.1999. tb00075.x [ Links ]
Van Aarde, R.J., Whyte, I.J. & Pimm, S.L., 1999, 'Culling and the dynamics of the Kruger National Park elephant population', Animal Conservation 2, 287-294. [ Links ]
Van Wilgen, B.W. & Biggs, H.C., (in press), 'A critical assessment of adaptive ecosystem management in a large savanna protected area in South Africa', Biological Conservation. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.05.006 [ Links ]
Van Wyk, P. & Fairall, N., 1969, 'The influence of the African elephant on the vegetation of the Kruger National Park', Koedoe 12, 66-75. [ Links ]
Whyte, I.J., Van Aarde, R.J. & Pimm, S.L., 1998, 'Managing the elephants of Kruger National Park', Animal Conservation 1, 77-83. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.1998. tb00014.x [ Links ]
Young, K.D., Ferreira, S.M. & Van Aarde, R.J., 2009, 'The influence of increasing population size and vegetation productivity on elephant distribution in the Kruger National Park', Austral Ecology 34, 329-342. doi:10.1111/j.1442- 9993.2009.01934.x [ Links ]
Correspondence to:
Harry Biggs
Postal address: Private Bag X402
Skukuza 1350, South Africa
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Received: 10 May 2010
Accepted: 01 Oct. 2010
Published: 13 May 2011
© 2011. The Authors. Licensee: OpenJournals Publishing. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.


text:
When Our Neighbor's Child (ONC) began in 1992, a few Virginia Run residents collected enough new toys to provide Christmas gifts for 31 needy children in the local area.
Now in its 11th year, the all-volunteer ONC is still going strong — but, boy, has the need ever grown.
"We just got another list from the county," said ONC clothing coordinator Tracy McInturff, Monday night. "We're up to 230 families."
"I just got 43 new families today," added toy coordinator Kathy Sposa. "It's the most we've ever gotten in one day — and we got 30, a few days ago." By Tuesday, 12 more families materialized.
"We're now up to 242, and my fax machine [receiving referrals from the county] is still cranking," said ONC founder and Executive Director Kelly Lavin, Tuesday evening. "I haven't had the heart to tell Kathy, yet, because I know she was calling the families she already has, late into the night."
This nonprofit, community-based group is mainly fueled by moms, but lots of dads and kids help, too. McInturff and Sposa, both of Centreville's Sully Station II community, plus Lavin of Centreville's Hunt Chase community, are the main cogs in the wheel. But by the time the last doll, winter coat and Christmas cookie have all been delivered, a couple hundred people have participated in the massive undertaking.
The Fairfax County Department of Social Services provides ONC with a list of families needing help. Some of their referrals come from local schools, and all are screened for eligibility. Then ONC callers phone the families to find out their specific needs, such as a girl's coat, size 8, or a toy train for a 7-year-old boy.
The information is relayed to McInturff and Sposa, who both spread the word throughout the community until the needs are filled. Girl Scouts and individual residents are doing their part and, said Sposa, "We have 17 area churches helping through 'giving trees.'" Tags listing particular needs are placed on Christmas trees in the churches and then congregation members choose tags and buy the new clothes and toys listed.
And this Saturday, Dec. 7, local Girl Scouts will be standing in front of the Fair Lakes Wal-Mart, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., to give specific-needs information to interested customers as they enter the store. The customers may then purchase these items and leave them, unwrapped, at a specially designated tree inside Wal-Mart.
A clothing drop-off is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 8, at the Sully Station I Community Center at 5101 Sequoia Farms Drive (across from the Safeway store) in Centreville. Residents wishing to contribute may call McInturff at 703-222-6669 to find out the specific items and sizes needed.
However, since family referrals are still coming in, fast and furious, she'll be accepting clothing until Christmas Eve. "The clothing need this year has about doubled," she said. "Warm clothing, such as socks, hats, gloves, shirts and pants, is especially needed."
And Our Neighbor's Child is aptly named, for all the recipients are members of the local community. Most live in Centreville and Clifton, as well as in other parts of western Fairfax County, such as Chantilly. McInturff believes the plummeting economy and the loss of jobs by so many people here were responsible for this holiday season's increased need for help.
"These are hard times — this is a tough year," she said. "And we appreciate everyone helping — the outpouring of people calling to offer help has been just tremendous Anything anyone can do is wonderful."
Underscoring McInturff's words, Sposa said this year is "by far, the biggest year we've ever had [in terms of requests for] help." She, too, points toward the economy, as does Lavin.
"Our donor base is less because companies have laid off people and they don't have the money to contribute as much, this year," said Lavin. "So we're just holding our breath. Besides a list of families to help, the county also gives us a list of donor companies [who'll contribute]. But this time, we only have 1/10th as many donor companies from the county as we usually have."
Last year, ONC volunteers provided clothing and toys for 150-180 families total; but December has just begun and they've already surpassed that number. That's why, said Lavin, "We have to make people aware of [the situation]. The more people that know, hopefully, the more people that will help."
Sposa said ONC could really use extra donations, as well as extra help. Volunteers are still needed for a variety of jobs, including helping to package the gifts for individual families. ONC moms plan to hold their first packaging sessions next Tuesday-Wednesday, Dec. 10-11. To volunteer for this or any other ONC task, visit the www.ourneighborschild.org Web site and click on "current needs" or "volunteer opportunities."
People may also help by sending tax-deductible, monetary contributions to Our Neighbor's Child at P.O. Box 276, Centreville, VA 20120. Since ONC has no overhead or administrative expenses, 100 percent of all donations is used for toys or clothing for needy families. Those wishing to donate toys may also do so by e-mailing Sposa at email@example.com.
She's lending a hand with the clothing effort, too, as is Holly Cameron of Virginia Run. Chesterbrook Academy in Herndon has also come through for ONC. "Lots of their teachers live in Centreville," explained McInturff. "The school has taken on 28 families to clothe, and it's also doing a sock-and-mitten drive. One of the moms there, Mary Mason, has especially been a big help."
Brightening the holidays for families in need is hard work, but the ONC volunteers don't let the enormity of their task deter them one bit. They know how much it means to the parents receiving the gifts to be able to give them to their children for Christmas.
"It's a wonderful thing, and we want to help as many people as we can," said McInturff. "And this brings the community together. You help your neighbors — that's what it's all about."
Sposa has participated in ONC for 10 years and says it's truly rewarding. "We definitely have a lot of fun because we're doing it together," she said. "And now I can't imagine the holidays without [this project]. It just wouldn't be right, knowing how much of a need is out there."
Agreeing, McInturff said, "It's just such a good feeling to do it — to know you're helping other families." However, added Sposa, "Without this community, this would not be happening — everybody contributes something."
"The whole of western Fairfax is pulling together for their neighbors," said Lavin. She also recognized the tremendous efforts and untiring dedication of all the ONC volunteers. "We absolutely couldn't do it, year after year, without these people who come back and give so much of themselves," she said. "They're a phenomenal group of people with huge hearts."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Gang Saw Granite
We supply Vitrified Tiles in Aurangabad and nearby areas only like Beed, Latur, Lasur, Jalna, Pune, Usmanabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Selu, Partur, Gangakhed, Sillod, Bhusawal, Ahmednagar, Jalgoan, Bhuranpur, Chalisgoan.
We supply other products like Mosaic, Basins, Pebbles, Granite, Marble etc., in All Over India.
"We are mainly dealing in Maharashtra"
DAKSH STONE GALLERIA All Rights Reserved.(Terms of Use)
Developed and Managed by Infocom Network Ltd.


text:
setup ultravnc server on a winXP desktop. The server has 2 identical 22" dell monitors.
The ultraVNC client also has 2 monitors.
I connect to the server and hit the button labeled "select full desktop/switch monitor (driver only)". The ultraVNC window then correctly displays both of the server monitors.
However, how can i fully expand the ultraVNC window across the client's two 22" monitors? When I hit full screen the ultraVNC window only expands on a single client monitor.


text:
84 Hours
February 10, 2010
The worst part, at first, was the boredom. Or maybe the lack of coffee.
No, definitely the boredom. When we woke up on Saturday to discover we had no power, I immediately groaned at the prospect of keeping the snowed-in kids occupied without the television. And then I groaned again, wistfully thinking of the weeks' worth of unwatched programming our TiVo had recorded while we were away. LOMFGST! Project Runway! Big Love! Assorted sitcoms! A good dozen or so competitive cake decorating shows! DAMMIT.
No, wait. The coffee. Definitely the coffee. By 11 am I had a raging caffeine withdrawal headache, the likes of which I hadn't experienced since the first trimester of pregnancy (i.e. the last time I gave the slightest asscrap about improving my health and tried to cut back).
No, wait. The boredom. I'd gone to bed without charging my phone or laptop, leaving my time to muck around on pointless computer games and/or complain about our lack of electricity to Twitter painfully limited.
No, wait. The battery-backup feature on the Verizon Fios Boxamajig in the basement. That was the worst thing, at first. I have no idea what purpose the battery-backup actually serves, except to beep every few minutes to alert you to the fact that the Boxamajig is operating on battery-backup power. You know, just in case you also had a battery backup on your wireless router (WARNING: YOU HAVE PRECIOUS LITTLE TIME TO FINISH READING THAT WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE) or on your television (WARNING: YOU SHOULD JUST FASTFORWARD TO THE PART WHERE THE CAKE DECORATORS HAVE TO MOVE THEIR CAKES TO THE TABLE SO YOU CAN SEE WHICH ONE FALLS OVER).
Every few minutes: Beep. Beep. Beep.
And every few minutes, I would hear the beep and think, "Ooh, maybe that's the power trying to come back on." Just like the lawyer in Jurassic Park said, when the water cup started vibrating on the dashboard, shortly before the T-Rex came around and ate him off the toilet.
(Speaking of which: I was absolutely SHOCKED to discover just how cold the average toilet seat gets after just a few hours of no heat. It's like, BRACING, you guys.)
I took a shower, only to break out in a vicious attack of cold urticaria the instant I stepped out of the warm-ish water. Raised welts and red hives covered my face and hands. "Look at how weird I am!" I told Jason. We ate tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. We put on extra sweaters and socks and stressed about the lack of firewood. (We'd made a fire the night before and burned through half our supply, you know, because it was SNOWY OUTSIDE. Never mind that it was 72 degrees INSIDE. Snowy! Make a fire! I might feel subliminally chilly!) We kicked ourselves for not having any propane for the grill. We all took naps because we didn't know what else to do. We kept flipping light-switches on and off. When Jason and I decided to stay warm the -- ahem -- old-fashioned way, I realized the distinct disadvantage the Hitachi Magic Wand has over other battery-powered -- ahem -- personal massagers.
My headache finally went away (must have been that -- ahem -- fantastic massage), so I started re-reading a couple of my favorite books. At some point, while halfway through The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I realized I was squinting. Oh, right! Darkness. That. We scrambled to light a motley assortment of scented decorative candles and shoved cheap Ikea taper candles into empty wine and beer bottles. I was a little embarrassed to find that we had PLENTY of bottles.
When faced with tuna fish sandwiches again for dinner, we revolted. I remembered Alton Brown (our personal culinary lord and savior) had an episode about cooking over an open fire, and we eyed our three or four sticks of firewood with inspiration. And hunger.
Ezra got chicken sausages. Noah ate a grilled cheese. We ate a couple awesomely smoky turkey burgers.
We chilled some white wine out on the back deck. You know, for the CANDLES.
We were feeling triumphant. The snow had stopped, clearly we had weathered the worst of it.
Then the fire went out.
The next morning, Sunday, the power still wasn't on. Our street wasn't plowed. The plows weren't even running. The number of people in our county without power was about 75,000, and climbing by the hour. The weight of the heavy, wet snow had caused an alarming number of branches to snap off a pine tree next to our house (but on common neighborhood property, that we've repeatedly, unsuccessfully lobbied for removal). Luckily, they'd missed our roof...and Ezra's bedroom window.
Jason dug and dug and shoveled and shoveled until he was able to get our car out. There was no way around it: We needed firewood. It was getting pretty cold.
Jason drove to our local hardware store: they had eight small bags of sadly damp wood, TOTAL. Jason couldn't bear the thought of someone else arriving after him and finding no wood, so he only took a couple. He brought it back to us, along with the Other Greatest Thing Ever:
Then he went back out in search of more wood.
A nearby Whole Foods indicated they would be open on their answering machine message, but when Jason arrived they'd lost their water overnight and were closed. While he was standing outside counting his cash and wondering where he could leave it before taking some of the bags of wood stacked outside, the manager came outside. Jason explained that we had no power and needed some firewood. The manager told him to take as many bags as he needed, and refused to take any money.
Meanwhile, I started moving essentials out of our rapidly-warming fridge.
A few years ago, Jason's mother gave us a wind-up radio/flashlight thing, in preparation for the End Times. Or maybe Terrorists. I forget which kick she was on at the time. We used it to listen for news from the power companies, which was not good. "Multiple-day event," they admitted. Probably another full day without electricity.
At some point, another Whosawhatzit started beeping. The power! It's the power! I stared expectantly at the TiVo, waiting for it to light up back to life. Nothing. I went off in search of the beeping. As I got closer, I realized that in between the beeping was an electronic voice saying WARNING! CARBON MONOXIDE! WARNING CARBON MONOXIDE!
We stared at the detector for a couple minutes, like...seriously? Seriously seriously? We have no gas or kerosene sources in the house, no garage...the fireplace? Oh my God, do you think it's the fireplace?
Suddenly the alarm changed its mind: WARNING! FIRE! WARNING! FIRE!
Being a woman of action, I yanked it out of the ceiling and replaced the batteries. Everything was fine.
But cold. Frigging freezing, man.
Jason and I had an old bag of ski clothing to dig through -- long underwear and fancy moisture-wicking layers and such -- but the boys were woefully unprepared. We prepared to go out again in search of warmer clothing to get them through the night, but alas, stores were either closed or sold out of all kids' sizes, having been cleared out that morning by more prepared, on-top-of-the-situation parents.
Instead, we went out for dinner, in hopes of getting warmed up temporarily, and maybe getting to see a little bit of the Super Bowl, which was bumming Jason out in particular. He'd been pretty dismissive about the road conditions, which shocked THE HELL out of me on the way to dinner. I gripped the door and the dashboard and closed my eyes and made all kinds of annoying, involuntary gasps and squawks because OH MY GOD, WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE FOR THE SAKE OF GETTING A DAMN CHEESEBURGER.
On the way home, in the dark, it became easy to spot who had power and who didn't. We played spot-the-lights all the way back though nearby neighborhoods, learning that the outages were not huge chunks of houses, but instead dozens of small, concentrated spots. We turned our final corner and I saw that the single family homes ACROSS THE STREET had power...but the townhouses were still completely cloaked in blackness. This was the psychic equivalent to getting kicked in the head. I stomped my foot. I said it wasn't fair.
Jason wondered if we were making a mistake by not getting a hotel room that night. I worried about it too, but whenever I thought about putting the boys back in the car and taking them out on those roads...no. NO. We were staying put. The power would be back on tomorrow. We could do one more night. We all slept in the same bed for awhile, until it became clear that nobody was getting any sleep, so Jason and Noah went in one room and Ezra, the pets and I stayed put in our bed. This may have worked, except that Noah spent most of the night wailing about unspecified complaints (which turned out to be too-small footie jammies), and Ezra refused to sleep under the covers, choosing to stick his head in my armpit and the kick the blankets off, leaving my torso exposed and freezing and my brain convinced that I -- a one-time experienced cosleeper! -- was going to inadvertently smother him.
On Monday, our neighborhood was plowed, but the power wasn't back on. While Pepco publicly promised "the majority of customers" would be restored by Tuesday night, multiple people were getting told a different story directly. Friday by six. FRIDAY. BY SIX.
Our electric toothbrush was slowwwwwly losing its charge, reminding me of that mournful dying cassette player from Apollo 13. I was perhaps kind of definitely getting a tad over-dramatic.
Back out, like it or not, in search of warmer clothing. We loaded up on kids' heavy-duty layers and socks at REI (where we noted, somewhat suspiciously, that it seemed like most of the stuff had been put on clearance racks to make way for spring merchandise, but the marked-down price stickers were mostly missing and everything was full price). We ate lunch at our favorite weekend breakfast place, surrounded by fellow power refugees -- we all had the same slightly dirty, greasy look about us, thanks to no hot water. We were all ridiculously overdressed for the warm restaurant but no one took off any of their extra layers. What have you heard? Have you gotten through to a person? Have you heard by tomorrow night? Have you heard this Friday by six nonsense? You have? Oh, my God.
I spent the whole meal fighting back tears. I was tired. I was cold. I was tired of feeling my children's icy cold ears and fingers, no matter how many layers I dressed them in. Everyone's nose was running and I was coughing. Our faces were bright red and chapped. I was tired of dark cold rooms and my shivering dog and fretting about how much food we were losing in the freezer. I started thinking about families who routinely escape to low-cost breakfast joints just to escape cold houses because they couldn't make the utility payments and, naturally, this healthy dose of perfuckingspective pushed me over the edge and I went into a bathroom stall to have a mini-cry.
We decided to get a hotel room. A bunch of people on Twitter had suggested that hotels would likely have a "disaster rate" for families like us. We called around and found no such thing. We booked a room anyway at a decent-ish rate, at a pet-friendly Kimpton near Dupont Circle where we'd stayed once upon a time, with the sad little fantasy that we'd maybe be able to take the boys out and enjoy the neighborhood. Once we got there, of course, it was all treacherous, unshoveled sidewalks, closed stores, and we couldn't leave Ceiba in the room ANYWAY, as she just barked her fool head off the instant we tried to do anything, like retrieve a bucket of ice down the hall. We were essentially even more shut-in than at home, where at least we could run errands without fear of dog-noise-related eviction.
After overpriced room service meals and morning breakfast buffet, plus the exorbitant cost of a one-time viewing of The Princess and the Frog (the hotel's one lone DVD player was broken [WTF] and the bag containing toys for the boys had accidentally been left in our foyer at home, so we had zero other entertainment options), the hotel room was much too expensive to book again, particularly with another storm coming.
Yes. Another storm. Predicted to be even worse. If we stayed at the hotel we risked being snowed OUT of our house. If we went home and power wasn't restored, we'd essentially be completely fucked for the rest of the week as the house got colder and colder.
We decided to go home, pack up a few more essentials and head up to Pennsylvania, to our families. The storm was set to hit them a bit later, albeit worse. But our parents' power lines ran underground and they never seemed to lose power, no matter how bad the weather. We packed and turned our water off, and Jason stopped to shovel our elderly neighbors' car out. We gave them a bag of firewood, though they said they'd been unable to start a fire because of the amount of snow covering their chimney.
I was buckling Noah in, not feeling super great about undertaking a long drive, or the prospect of being stranded away from home for Godonlyknows. Jason had the baby and was about to the lock the front door...
"Babe, the power just came back on," he said.
And it had! Oh my God! I ran back in and started flipping lights on and off. Jason turned on the water and cranked up the thermostat. (Interior rooms near the fire: 45 degrees. Bedrooms: in the fucking thirties.) Noah stood just outside, terribly confused. "Grandma and Grandpa's house?" he asked, near tears. I felt badly, but LOOK LOOK LOOK I CAN PEE WITH THE LIGHTS ON.
I started the dishwasher, drained the sink of all the crap we'd absentmindedly dumped in the garbage disposal, put a load of diapers in the wash, freaked out on Twitter and called my mom, in that order.
Jason went outside to start unloading the car...
"Oh my God," I said to my mom. "It just went off again."
And it had! Barely 30 minutes had passed and poof. Gone.
I went outside and shrieked to Jason. He came in. I kept shrieking.
Jason wanted to know what I thought we should do. I wanted to him to STOP FUCKING ASKING. He wanted me to calm down. I wanted him to STOP TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN.
It was not my finest moment. I was just...furious. Devastated. Exhausted. And oh, so fucking cold.
Some random Old Guy was wandering around outside, railing about Pepco, our own equivalent to The End Is Near Sandwich Board Prophets. He claimed to know that the power thing was a fluke, a mistake, the result of a repair being made elsewhere. He also claimed that the crew was getting pulled before the next storm started.
Jason jumped in the car and drove off, in search of this mysterious crew. To beg? Bribe? Offer his services as a human electrical conductor? I don't know.
He returned a few minutes later. The crew was indeed working around the corner. They were not even from Pepco, but from another utility company in Delaware, in town to help with the insane number of outages. They were very tired. They were especially tired, apparently, of people like Jason knocking on their windows in search of news. Jason tried to not ask too many questions and to be unfailingly polite, lest they pack up and leave us to our crotchety elderly messengers of doom.
"They said it will be another few hours." Jason reported.
I had so many more questions: Like, for sure? Like, they aren't leaving until it happens? Like, the repair they're working on is OUR REPAIR, and not like, another repair BEFORE our repair and then a couple more hours after that?
Jason was all, that's all I know, crazy lady. I decided to leave and LET THEM WORK instead of pestering them to death.
So we decided to give them two more hours. In two hours, if the power was still off, we'd leave for PA after all, hopefully still staying ahead of the storm.
In the meantime, Jason assessed my mental state and offered to go get me some Chipotle. It's pretty much my Prozac, he's learned.
He was still in line when I called him.
"It's on. It's back on."
And it still is. For now. For hopefully good. We're at about three feet of snow and counting.
Stay warm, everybody.


text:
The anti-power plant group Stop the Power has spent close to $10,000 attacking Bill Carpenter, who supports the plant.
A six-minute infomercial featuring mayoral candidate Bill Carpenter defending his support for a controversial gas-fired power plant on the city's south side surfaced on the video sharing site Vimeo before it was released by his campaign.
The video was reposted from a personal Vimeo account by power plant opponents Stop the Power. Below the video the group included a message blasting Carpenter as being "owned by the Brockton Power Plant Group" and reminding voters of Carpenter's bankruptcy history.
The video was later posted to Carpenter's campaign website, and his campaign released a statement expressing frustration with the attacks.
"The opponents of the electric generating plant have chosen to malign my character and attack my family instead of addressing the issue on its merits," Carpenter writes in a statement released by his campaign Friday.
Stop the Power is led and financed by local businessman Ed Byers, CEO of Brockton-based Cindy's Kitchen. Since May, Byers, an Easton resident, has spent $9,415 to oppose Carpenter, filings with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance show.
In the video, Carpenter visits four gas-fired power plants in the region, noting their proximity to residences and hospitals.
He argues that the city has already spent more than $1 million on outside lawyer fees to fight the power plant and that the plant could help alleviate "critical need for real property tax relief."
Carpenter argues that after nine court decisions in favor of the plant developers, the city needs to negotiate an agreement that would include a profit-sharing clause, require the developers to drop their $68 million civil rights case and purchase water from the city.
Kate Archard, a former candidate for City Council and a Stop the Power activist, defended the group's attack campaign, arguing that Carpenter is "beating down the psyche" of residents, using rhetoric that makes the power plant seem inevitable.
Stonehill Political Science Professor Peter Ubertaccio said anything posted to social media can be used by anyone on that platform, but he added that the power plant opponents strategy might be a disservice to voters.
"What they've done, beyond making it politically difficult to support (the power plant), is they've made it difficult to have a reasoned discussion around the issue," Ubertaccio said.
The power plant and property taxes have continued to dominate the mayoral campaign, despite the fact that Brockton has had seven murders thusfar in 2013, more than all of last year.


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There are two concepts to this tournament
- Watch - all games will be sunny
- Learn - you will not be eliminated if you lose, the first time
The settings are Automatic, Sequential, Nuclear, Chained & Sunny.
Initial matchups will be determined by Random.org.
List of Players
Winners of previous Watch, and learn Tournaments
Dustbowl: HighlanderAttack
Poker Club: hmsps


text: The mechanism by which an enzyme produced in the intestinal lining helps to maintain a healthy population of gastrointestinal microbes has been identified by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators. In their report in American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, the research team describes finding that intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria by blocking the growth-inhibiting action of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - an action first described in this paper - within the intestine. "We found that ATP is a natural inhibitor of bacteria in our intestines and that IAP promotes the growth of 'good' bacteria by blocking ATP," says Richard Hodin, MD, of the MGH Department of Surgery, senior author of the report which has been released online. "By helping to keep these healthy bacteria happy, IAP protects us against dangerous pathogens that can get the upper hand when the balance is disrupted." The beneficial bacteria and other microbes that normally populate the human digestive system contribute to the digestive process and also prevent the proliferation of any disease-causing bacteria that may be present. A drop in the number of beneficial species - which may be caused by antibiotic treatment, poor nutrition or other health conditions - can allow the population of harmful bacteria to rise, contributing to serious medical problems including chronic diarrhea from pathogenic species such as C. difficile, inflammatory bowel disease, and metabolic syndrome. Previous research by Hodin's team found that IAP keeps pathogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract from passing through the intestinal wall, and a 2010 study in mice revealed that the enzyme plays an important role in maintaining levels of beneficial bacteria, including restoring levels reduced by antibiotic treatment. However, that study also showed that IAP does not directly promote bacterial growth, leaving exactly how the enzyme helps maintain the microbial population an open question that the current study was designed to investigate. A series of experiments first confirmed that mice lacking intestinal IAP had significant reductions in populations of several important bacterial species. Hypothesizing that IAP may act by blocking a growth-inhibiting activity of one of its target molecules, the researchers tested how well bacteria in stool samples would grow in the presence of four known IAP targets. Among the tested targets, only ATP significantly reduced bacterial growth; and ATP's inhibitory effects were reversed by application of IAP. Best known as the primary energy supply within cells, ATP also acts as a signaling molecule both inside and outside of cells, and this study is the first to identify such an activity for ATP within the gastrointestinal system. Experiments in living mice revealed that IAP knockout animals had 10 times the normal level of ATP within their intestines and that fasting animals, in which IAP levels would be expected to drop, also had elevated intestinal ATP. Adding ATP to the intestines of mice in which IAP activity had been inhibited reduced levels of beneficial E.coli bacteria in the animals' digestive systems. Altogether the results show that ATP inhibits the growth of intestinal bacteria in mice and that IAP's growth-promoting effects result from the enzyme's inactivation of ATP and possibly of related molecules. "Now we need to find out whether IAP also promotes the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria in humans," says Hodin, who is a professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. "If it does, IAP-based therapies could offer a simple and safe approach to treating the millions of patients who suffer serious health problems caused by disruptions to intestinal microbial balance." Source: Eurekalert << Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women Not Increased by Ca... 20 Years After Sectarian Killings, Catholics Now 'Welcome' ... >> Recommended Reading Small Intestine Biopsy Encyclopedia section of medindia gives general information about small intestine READ MORE Giardiasis Giardiasis is an infection of the small intestine caused by a parasite called Giardia lamblia . READ MORE Tapeworm Infections Tapeworms are a group of parasites that depend on humans for growth and cause intestinal infection in them. Tapeworm symptoms and signs include stomach pain, loss of appetite, weight loss. READ MORE Celiac Disease Celiac disease is labeled as a digestive disorder associated with malabsorption as well as an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. READ MORE Food Preservatives - How Safe Are They? Food preservatives are basically antimicrobials or anti-oxidants that help preserve food by destroying the microbes and stopping decomposition of food products. READ MORE Most Popular on Medindia Drug - Food Interactions Fongitar (Zinc Pyrithionone) Find a Doctor More News on: Food Preservatives - How Safe Are They?


text:
Code-hopping Sonny Bill Williams has Olympic aspirations – he wants to win a medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games playing rugby sevens.
In heartening news for rugby fans, it is understood Williams plans to return to the 15-man game by 2015 to try to reclaim his All Blacks jersey for that year's World Cup in England.
But Williams's aspirations as a professional boxer may lead him to withdraw from all rugby after the 2016 Olympics, if things go to plan.
Williams, who has a fight against South African Francois Botha on February 8 for the World Boxing Association international heavyweight title, will play rugby league with the Sydney Roosters this season but has made no commitments beyond that.
Fairfax Media has learned he has a tentative road map for the remainder of his unusual career, which has taken him from league to rugby and back to league while also heading into professional boxing.
Williams would like to play, if selected, for the Kiwis at this year's rugby league World Cup, and is open-minded about whether to play league or rugby next year. But he would definitely return to rugby before 2015 to have time to fight for his All Blacks jersey for the World Cup in England.
The following year he would spend on boxing and rugby sevens, with an eye to the Olympics, before becoming a full-time boxer. Sevens would combine well with a more serious focus on his boxing career because of the intense aerobic fitness the New Zealand Sevens team gain under their coach Gordon Tietjens.
Williams and his manager Khoder Nasser wouldn't talk directly about their long-term plans, with Williams saying he didn't want to look too far ahead and only considered "what was going to get the best out of me and where I am going to be happy".
But he did say he was motivated by challenges. "When I am finished, I just want to say I have tried lots of things, and I've done as well as I can."
It's thought the Williams camp sees the trifecta of winning a league World Cup, being in the first All Blacks team to win a rugby World Cup offshore and then succeeding at the Olympics in Sevens is the biggest-possible sporting challenge he could take on.
Steve Kilgallon
The original release of this article first appeared on the website of Hangzhou Night Net.


text: UPDATED: Bluetooth fixed The update can be flashed over top the old DXtoD2GB porter! Learning from what Kejar had done with his Froyo DX to D2 rom porter, I decided to make it happen with the Gingerbread leak. So I've done some digging and put together a flashable through clockworkmod .zip file. This will port any DX GB leak based rom over to be compatible, with full functionality, to the D2. Requirements: -Must be already running the Droid 2 prerooted GB leak which can be found here. All credit for the above file goes to p3droid. DXtoD2GB.zip You will need to find the Droid X rom you would like to install and place it on your SDCARD. You will then also need to place the DXtoD2GB.zip on your SDCARD. REMEMBER YOU NEED TO BE ON THE ROOTED GB LEAK BEFORE INSTALLING ANY NEW GB BASED ROM!!!!!! -Boot into clockworkmod(bootstrap) recovery and make a backup. -Wipe data/cache(factory reset) -Mount system and data(Might not be necessary but I always do it anyways because it doesn't hurt anything) -Flash the DX GB based ROM file first -Mount system and data again (Again, might not be necessary) -While still in clockworkmod recovery, install DXtoD2GB.zip -Reboot Wait for it to boot and and you're all set! Enjoy! Note: HDMI in settings will obviously have no purpose as that is an exclusive DX trait.


text:
I am wirte to you for applying for the job of Analyst.
I am writing to apply for the job of Analyst.
Dear Sir,
I am write to you for applying for the job of Analyst.
I will graduate from Sydney Institute of Language & Commerce, (SILC), Shanghai University, major in Marketing, Acounting, International economic & trade.
I am always interested in investment & risk managment, and desire to involoving in this field.
Goldman Sachs is a world-famous leading global investment banking, securities and investment management group. Offering career opportunities for students just graduate from university, and suggesting to be an Analyst as a start.
I have finish the web test 'WHERE DO I FIT IN' , and it sugget me that Credit Risk Management and Advisory, Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities and Goldman Sachs Asset Management area I can consider. As Analyst is one of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities, now I write to apply with my resume as follow.
I am sure that I can do the job well and improve myself well, if you give me a chance to be your staff.
I am looking for your reply. Thank you very much.
Yours faithfully
Chris Shen
Chris Shen
Personal Information:
ADD: Room XXX, Building XX, XXX Road,
Changning District, Shanghai, China
EMAIL: [email protected]
Summary of Qualifications
Good communication skills in interpreted, presented and negoatiated.
Fluency in English and know a little of Japanese.
Full of energy to work independent and have organizational skills.
Good computer skills in Windows and Office, HTML, E-Business.
Working experiences in sales and marketing.
Sydney Institute of Language & Commerce, (SILC), Shanghai University. Jiading District
Graduate from the university and get Bachelor of Economy in International Economic & Trade department, July, 2005.
Major in Marketing, Acounting,Organizion Behavior,Internationa economic & trade and computer operate.
Study Internediate Course of Interpretation in Jiao Tong University.
Study Japanese language course in Foreign Language University.
Translate artiles for the magizine GOLDEN CARDS as a partime job.
Trainer in finance department in Changhai CO. QIANGSHENG GROUP in 2002
I also have some questions to ask, thank you!
If the company have the apply online system, should we only apply online or apply for the job in both ways just as apply online and EMAIL?
As a Chinese, If I apply for a foreign company only in English without Chinese resume, should I also write my Chinese name and pingyin in personal information area?
If the company offer online test, should I send the result of my testing to them, when I apply?
Last edited by Chris_shen; 18-Feb-2005 at 13:49.
I am wirte to you for applying for the job of Analyst.
I am writing to apply for the job of Analyst.
Originally Posted by tdol
Thank you sir~
I have corrected it.
I write 'part-time' with a hyphen because it looks nicer.
Keep a copy for your records they use the on-line version only.Originally Posted by Chris_shen
Please go over the highlighted areas and doble check for grammar, typo and context.


text:
Forget tableside Caesar salad (so '80s), it seems the hot new trend is tableside guacamole. Right in front of your eyes, your server will whip up a batch of fresh guacamole with your choice of mix-ins: onions, peppers, jalapenos, tropical fruit, cilantro, etc.
I've seen this trend at higher-end Mexican and Latin restaurants lately, like the renowned Boudro's Texas Bistro in San Antonio, TX (read about my culinary adventure), and Cantina Laredo in Wesley Chapel, FL. But be prepared to shell out around 10 bucks for it, which seems to be the average. It's all for the novelty and the show, I suppose.
Here's the recipe for Boudro's tableside guacamole, if you'd rather pay half the price and feel accomplished for making it yourself, courtesy of The Great Family Cookbook Project.


text:
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA
The Shambles York "The Shambles must be one of Britains best known streets - reputed to be Europe's most visited! The street is packed with independent shops, restaurants, and of course - tourists!.."
York Minster "York Minster - The Cathedral of York. The Cathedral & Metropolitcal Church of St. Peter in York is popularly known as 'York Minster' from its original foundation as a missionary church or monaterium. It is the seat of the Archbishop of York..."
York Railway Station, Station Road York, YO24 "The present station was designed by the North Eastern Railway architect Thomas Prosser and William Peachey. On completion in 1877, it had 13 platforms and was the largest in the world..."
National Railway Museum - Chinese Train " Admission to the National Railway Musuem has been free since 2001. It is open daily from 10am to 6 pm..."
York Racecourse - Champagne Terrace "York Racecourse is one of the Premier Horse Racing tracks in Europe having won a Flat Racecourse of the Year Award and also came out top in The Times Newspaper survey of all Britain's racecourses..."
The City Walls, York "The City of York has more miles of intact city walls than any City anywhere else in England, and some sections of the walls date back to Roman times..."
Welcome to VR York - your tour of the historic Yorkshire City of York.
Click here to view our latest locations throughout the City of York
Choose a street view of York UK from the Google map of the City of York UK
Looking for the Postcode for York UK?
Find UK postcodes on a map of Great Britain - enter the York UK postcode on our York postcode finder UK map.
Railway Station - York
The concept is simple - just click on a location on one of our maps to choose a view and start your tour of the City of York.
Visiting York? Choose a Hotel, Apartment or B&B from our HOTELS IN YORK WITH LAST MINUTE AND LATE ROOM DISCOUNTS.
York is the original county town of the county of Yorkshire UK.
York is well known for its history, much of which is preserved in the architecture of the City. Year after year tourists vist the City of York to see the historic mediaeval buildings, along with with remnants of the earlier Roman and Viking settlements, the historic Cathedral of York - York Minster, the National Railway Museum, old cobbled streets of the 'Shambles', horse racing at York Racecourse or strolling and cycling by the river Ouse.
York Boats on the River Ouse
We hope you enjoy our tour of the City - York is one of our favourite cities, and well worth a visit.
York Minster
The 'street by street' Virtual tour of the City of York, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Includes virtual tours, interactive maps, visits to retail shops, museums, parks and much more.
Established in 1996 (yes, way back in the 20th Century!), our 360 degree virtual city tours offer comprehensive city guides across the UK and beyond.
Each website offers independent news and reviews, serving the local community and visitors alike.
Cliffords Tower
Part of our UK VR Tour collection, this site is one of our nationwide network of city guides which aim to offer visitors information and immersive views of locations across the country.
We are proud of our independence, which allows us to publish unbiased views, reviews and local information based on our own visits and local sources.
You can see what the world is chattering about on the latest Twitter feed for York UK


text:
Brent Atchley Skater Profile
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